Historic Headlines

On Dec. 14, 1981, Israel annexed the territory on the Golan Heights that it had seized from Syria in 1967. The New York Times called it an “abrupt move” that came as a surprise not only to international observers, but also to many Israelis who felt that it was hastily pushed through parliament by Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

The annexation was met with international condemnation. Syria called it a “declaration of war,” while the United States, a staunch ally of Israel, called it “inconsistent with the Camp David accords,” The Times reported. Three days later, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution declaring that Israel’s act was “null and void and without international legal effect.”
The Golan Heights is a strategically important plateau from which large areas of land on both the Israeli and Syrian sides can be viewed. When it was under Syrian control, it was used to launch shell attacks on the agriculturally rich Hula Valley in Israel. Prime Minister Begin used these attacks to justify Israel’s occupation and annexation, arguing that Syrians “would open fire, from the heights, on our towns and villages, instituting a reign of blood and terror throughout the area.”

Israel had captured much of the Golan Heights — as well as the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan — after it defeated Egypt, Syria and Jordan in a six-day war of June 1967. Soon after the war, Israeli citizens began settling in the area, which was placed under military control.

Israel intended to use the heights as leverage in peace negotiations, though Syria was not open to a settlement. Syria tried to reclaim the heights in 1973 with a surprise attack as part of the Yom Kippur war, but Israeli forces managed to drive back the advancing forces and capture more territory in the heights.

The Golan Heights remains under Israel’s control today, and is at the center of peace negotiations between the two countries. In 1999 to 2000, Israel offered to withdraw from the Heights, with the exception of the land around the Sea of Galilee, its primary source for fresh water. Syria has insisted that it will only accept a full withdrawal to pre-1967 borders.

What are Israel’s greatest concerns over returning the Golan Heights to the pre-1967 border? Do you believe the Heights should be returned? Why or why not? What are the pros and cons for both sides involved in this dispute?

This is technically incorrect. Israel did formally annex east Jerusalem, but it merely extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights, a step short of annexation. This was seen as encouragement for Syria to negotiate an agreement on the Golan.

IOn February 28, 1966 I was a volunteer on Kibbutz Hulata. The living area of the Kibbutz had been fired on a number of times in past years. On that date the Israelis sent out an armored tractor to plow the border for the planting of trees that would visually protect Israeli agricultural workers as they developed the land for planting. The Syrian tanks, dug in at three levels down the Golan Heights, fired on the tractor and driver. The Israelis anticipating that the Syrians would fire had troops ready to respond and they did. I have a photo of a Syrian tank burning at about half way down the heights.

In 1974 we visited Kibbutz Hulata and spoke with friends there. One of them, the mother of 3 children, told us that they hadn’t realized how much stress they had been under until the Syrians were no longer were able to fire on them and they felt great relief.